Now the Google Assistant can take care of your IOUs

When the weekend’s over, chances are someone owes you (or you owe someone) money for something—Friday night's concert tickets, Saturday afternoon's barbecue supplies, or Sunday’s matinee at the movies. Starting today, you can ask your Google Assistant to pay your friends back with Google Pay, so you can spend more time having fun and less time dealing with the hassle of paying each other back.

You can easily send or request money from your contacts—for free—using the Assistant on Android and iOS phones in the U.S. In the coming months, you’ll be able to send money on voice-activated speakers like Google Home.

No worries if you haven't already signed up for Google Pay—you'll be prompted to set up your account as soon as you ask the Assistant to send money to your contacts. Funds are transferred almost instantaneously, even if the recipient doesn’t have a Google Pay account. Your friends and family will receive an email, text message, or notification if they’re already have the Google Pay app installed, so they can cash out.

To get started, just say “Hey Google, request $20 from Sam for the show tonight” or “Hey Google, send Jane $15 for lunch today” and let your Google Assistant do the rest.